EXPLAINED: Why Mohammed Shami was not selected in the Indian squad for Test series vs New Zealand

EXPLAINED: Why Mohammed Shami was not selected in the Indian squad for Test series vs New Zealand

Photo: AP

India is all set to take on New Zealand in a three-match Test series starting from October 16. The selection for the series has been announced and people were expecting Mohammed Shami to return to series action after missing almost a year due to injury. However, fans were surprised not to see his name when the squad was announced, despite reports of his possible comeback to the series.

Is Mohammed Shami injured?

Mohammed Shami underwent surgery on his ankle after the 2023 ODI World Cup and has not played since. He was recovering at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), and according to reports, he suffered a knee injury there during his recovery. Shami was being groomed for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy versus Australia in Australia in November, and was set to return to the New Zealand series to gain some momentum ahead of the all-important tour Down Under. However, the knee injury will also reportedly keep him out of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

While Shami said the injury reports were unfounded, his absence from the squad for the series against New Zealand appears to be a worrying sign for fans.

Jasprit Bumrah named vice-captain for the New Zealand Series

While Mohammed Shami has missed a call-up to the Indian squad for the New Zealand series, his pace bowling partner Jasprit Bumrah has been appointed as vice-captain to Rohit Sharma. This means the management is grooming him to lead the side in the first two Tests against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as Rohit Sharma will reportedly miss those due to personal reasons.

Indian squad for the three Tests against New Zealand: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav , Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep

Traveling reserves: Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mayank Yadav and Prasidh Krishna